(stratfor.com – Geopolitical Weekly – Eugene Chausovsky – March 11, 2014) Just days before the Ukrainian crisis broke out, I took an overnight train to Kiev from Sevastopol in Crimea. Three mechanics in their 30s on their way to jobs in Estonia shared my compartment. All ethnic Russians born and raised in Sevastopol, they have made the trip to the […]
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(Business New Europe – bne.eu – Graham Stack in Bakhchysarai – March 11, 2014) Given the collapse of Kyiv’s power on the Crimean peninsula, the Tatar population remains a bulwark of resistance to the plans of Crimea’s Kremlin-backed secessionist leadership to join Russia. bne visited the heartland of Crimean Tatars at Bakhchysarai and spoke to its leader, Ilmi Umerov, who […]
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SIMFEROPOL. March 11 (Interfax) – The Crimean parliament has passed a resolution on guarantees of the restoration of the Crimean Tatar people’s rights and their integration into the Crimean Community, which proposes broadening the rights of the deported ethnic group considerably in the autonomous republic’s new constitution. Eighty-one Crimean parliamentary deputies voted in support of the resolution on Tuesday, the […]
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MOSCOW, March 11 (RIA Novosti) – The World Bank announced Tuesday that it will provide up to $3 billion to support reforms in Ukraine, which is struggling to put its economy back on track amid political turbulence. The lender said that restoring economic stability, strengthening the banking sector, reforming the energy sector, tackling corruption, enhancing investment and improving social assistance […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Oleg Sukhov – March 11, 2014) Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told President Vladimir Putin on Monday that Russia and the West were continuing to butt heads over the Ukraine situation after the U.S. submitted “unsatisfactory” proposals based on the notion that there was a “conflict between Russia and Ukraine.” At a meeting with Putin […]
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MOSCOW, March 11 (RIA Novosti) – Ousted Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych warned on Tuesday that “dark forces” are working to foment civil war in the troubled former Soviet nation. During a short address in the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don, Yanukovych insisted that he not only remains Ukraine’s president, but that he is also still the head of the armed […]
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ROSTOV-ON-DON. March 11 (Interfax) – Ukraine’s president, Viktor Yanukovych, said that the socioeconomic situation will deteriorate in Ukraine under the current government and that he does not bear responsibility for Crimea’s “separation from Ukraine.” “The socioeconomic situation will seriously deteriorate soon, which will deal a direct blow to the people of Ukraine. Those who have usurped power will try to […]
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[check back for updates, including more links; links also posted to facebook and twitter] Johnson’s Russia List :: 2014-#52 :: 10 March 2014 E-Mail: davidjohnson@starpower.net A project of the Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies (IERES) at The George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs: www.ieres.org JRL homepage: russialist.org JRL on Facebook: facebook.com/russialist JRL on Twitter: twitter.com/JohnsonRussiaLi Support […]
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SIMFEROPOL. March 10 (Interfax) – The units of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry quartered in Crimea are off-the-line and do not obey orders of Kyiv, Crimea’s First Deputy Prime Minister Rustam Temirgaliyev told Interfax on Monday. “Almost all military units of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry located in Crimea are under control, joint patrolling of storages with arms is being held and […]
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(opendemocracy.net – Paul Rogers – March 6, 2014) The dangerous stand-off with Russia over Ukraine is also a display of the west’s skewed perceptions and moral vanities. Paul Rogers is professor in the department of peace studies at Bradford University, northern England. He is openDemocracy’s international-security editor, and has been writing a weekly column on global security since 28 September […]
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SIMFEROPOL, March 10 (RIA Novosti) – Crimean Prime Minister Sergei Aksyonov said Monday that preparations for the the southern Ukrainian region to become part of Russia are already underway. Crimea was flooded with Russian troops following the fall of the government in the capital, Kiev, last month and a referendum to decide whether the region will become part of Russia […]
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(Interfax – March 9, 2014) Crimea’s deputy prime minister, Olga Kovitidi, described as predatory the terms of an agreement Kyiv is ready to accept from the International Monetary Fund. The tentative agreement with the IMF which the Ukrainian authorities signed with the IMF on March 2, says that the country’s entire gas pipeline system will be handed over for free […]
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KYIV. March 9 (Interfax) – The price of Russian gas exported to Ukraine could stand at $368.5 per 1,000 cubic meters in the second quarter of 2014, said Ukraine’s Energy and Coal Industry Minister Yuriy Prodan. “We expect Russia to export gas to us at $368.5 per 1,000 cubic meters,” he told reporters in Kyiv on Sunday. Ukraine continues repaying […]
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MOSCOW, March 9 (RIA Novosti) – The movement of troops in western Ukraine, reported by the country’s media, was held as part of military exercises and is not related to events in the breakaway region of Crimea, the acting defense minister said on Sunday. Crimea, the autonomous, largely pro-Russian republic, was taken over by thousands of troops without insignia widely […]
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MOSCOW. March 9 (Interfax) – The new administration of Ukraine has made attempts to reach agreements with Crimea, but the arguments of the people of Crimea were not heard, Volodymyr Konstantynov, chairman of the Supreme Council of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, said in the Russian State Duma deputies on Friday. “Then [after attempts to use force] they started dialogue […]
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MOSCOW, March 10 (RIA Novosti) – Fugitive Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych will make an official statement Tuesday in Rostov-on-Don, sources close to the once powerful leader told RIA Novosti on Monday. It will be the second public appearance by Yanukovych in the southern Russian city since he fled Ukraine for Russia last month as opposition protesters swept to power in […]
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KYIV. March 10 (Interfax) – The United States will support any president the Ukrainian people will elect, U.S. Ambassador in Kyiv Jeffrey Payette said at a news conference on Monday. The U.S. will support anyone, who will win during the democratic elections and who will be elected by the Ukrainian people, the ambassador said. The most important thing is that […]
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(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Dan Pototsky, RBTH – March 10, 2014) Hackers have taken down several Russian media website in the past week and alleged attacks on defense infrastructure in response to Russia’s actions in Ukraine. On March 7, the website of Rossiyskaya Gazeta, one of the largest Russian dailies, the paper of record of the Russian […]
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(RFE/RL– rferl.org – Halyna Tereshchuk and Claire Bigg – March 8, 2014) LVIV, Ukraine — As millions of women across the world looked forward to celebrating International Women’s Day on March 8, Tetiana Turchina was in no mood for flowers, chocolate, and festivities. The young Ukrainian woman watched with dismay as Russian troops took control of Crimea, the picturesque and […]
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[check back for updates, including more links; links also posted to facebook and twitter] Johnson’s Russia List :: 2014-#51 :: 9 March 2014 E-Mail: davidjohnson@starpower.net A project of the Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies (IERES) at The George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs: www.ieres.org JRL homepage: russialist.org JRL on Facebook: facebook.com/russialist JRL on Twitter: twitter.com/JohnsonRussiaLi Support […]
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(RFE/RL – rferl.org – Tom Balmforth – DONETSK, Ukraine – March 8, 2014) Just a month ago, few people were talking about more autonomy for Donetsk — less still about it joining Russia. But with Russian troops in Crimea and the Black Sea peninsula soon to vote on joining Russia, some in Donetsk are agitating for a referendum to widen the […]
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(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Volodymyr Verbyany, Daryna Krasnolutska & Stepan Kravchenko – March 9, 2014) Pro-Russian forces advanced in Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula, ignoring Western calls to abandon a military takeover in the run up to a separatist referendum slated for March 16. Russian forces took control of the province’s Chernomorskoye border base today, detaining Ukrainian soldiers, a day after gunmen […]
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(Institute of Modern Russia – imrussia.org – March 6, 2014) According to the state-owned All-Russia Center for the Study of Public Opinion, 73 percent of Russians are against intervention in Ukraine. All the leading opposition forces in Russia have condemned the military invasion and the planned annexation of Crimea. The Institute of Modern Russia publishes excerpts from Russian opposition statements […]
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SIMFEROPOL, March 9 (RIA Novosti) – The authorities in Ukraine’s breakaway region of Crimea on Sunday ruled out negotiations with the central government, which they say is illegitimate. “The incumbent authorities are absolutely illegitimate, they were brought to power by guns, knives and baseball bats. While they are in office, there will be no dialog not only with them, but […]
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(Interfax – March 9, 2014) Crimean Parliament Speaker Volodymyr Konstantynov said during negotiations in the Russian State Duma that the decision to hold a referendum in Crimea and the decision made by the Supreme Council of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea to join Russia are forced measures caused by threats made by Ukraine. “Volodymyr Konstantynov pointed out the importance of […]
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(Interfax – March 8, 2014) Ukraine did not ask Russia to hold a meeting in Paris at the level of foreign ministers, while when planning contacts in Paris between Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and his Western counterparts nothing was said about expanding the number of participants, a Russian Foreign Ministry source has said. “When planning contacts between the Russian […]
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(Interfax – March 8, 2014) Ukraine is not abandoning the hope to preserve good neighborly relations with Russia and Russians, Ukraine’s Acting Foreign Minister Andriy Deshchytsa said. “We would like to have good neighborly relations with all our neighbors, including Russia. That is the reason why we are still keeping the option of a diplomatic dialogue with Russia, keeping the […]
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(RFE/RL – rferl.org – March 07, 2014) With officials in the Ukrainian region of Crimea preparing a referendum on joining the Russian Federation and Russian lawmakers drafting legislation that would enable Moscow to accept Crimea as a new subject of Russia, RFE/RL correspondent Robert Coalson discussed the issue of annexation with Adam Roberts, senior research fellow in international relations at […]
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MOSCOW, March 8 (RIA Novosti) – The head of Russian diplomacy on Saturday slammed Ukrainian post-revolutionary authorities and alleged attempts to demonize Russia’s involvement in the Ukrainian crisis. “The so-called ‘interim government’ [in Ukraine] is not independent and, sadly, depends on radical nationalists who seized power in an armed coup,” Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said. Ukrainian opposition took power in […]
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MOSCOW. March 8 (Interfax) – Ukraine could soon announce setting up a commission to investigate the so-called problem of Maidan snipers, which arose after publication of the transcript of a telephone conversation between Estonian Foreign Minister Urmas Paet and European Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton. It was reported earlier that the head of the […]
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[check back for updates, including more links; links also posted to facebook and twitter] Johnson’s Russia List :: 2014-#50 :: 8 March 2014 E-Mail: davidjohnson@starpower.net A project of the Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies (IERES) at The George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs: www.ieres.org JRL homepage: russialist.org JRL on Facebook: facebook.com/russialist JRL on Twitter: twitter.com/JohnsonRussiaLi Support […]
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[check back for updates, including more links; links also posted to facebook and twitter] Johnson’s Russia List :: 2014-#49 :: 7 March 2014 E-Mail: davidjohnson@starpower.net A project of the Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies (IERES) at The George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs: www.ieres.org JRL homepage: russialist.org JRL on Facebook: facebook.com/russialist JRL on Twitter: twitter.com/JohnsonRussiaLi Support […]
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(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – editorial – March 6, 2014) As the U.S. and Europe consider financial sanctions to punish Russia for trampling on Ukraine’s sovereignty, they are coming up against an uncomfortable reality: Those sanctions tend to cut both ways. But how deep do they cut? Russia is far more financially intertwined with the West than it was back in […]
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(Business New Europe – bne.eu – Tim Ash – March 7, 2014) Ok, so here is my quick fix for a solution herein. The West – or US – has just rediscovered the wheel almost by hitting on the idea of financial sanctions as a way to get Russia back to the negotiating table. This will have impact and even […]
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MOSCOW. March 7 (Interfax) – Russian President’s Press Secretary has called the actions of Western countries over Ukraine “a triumph of double standards.” “All in all, what we see now happening in and around Ukraine is such a triumph of lawlessness, a triumph of cynicism and a triumph of the collapse of international law, a triumph of double standards,” Peskov […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Anatoly Medetsky – March 7, 2014) In May, Ukraine will elect a president, whose history with Russia and perception by the Kremlin could advance or delay the cooling of relations with Kiev. It is far from obvious which of the current possible top contenders would be more palatable to President Vladimir Putin, but observers in […]
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(Interfax – March 6, 2014) Most Russian citizens believe that their country should actively protect the interests of ethnic Russians in Crimea, the head of the Russian Public Opinion Research Centre (VTsIOM), Valeriy Fedorov, has said. He was speaking at an Open Tribune session in the State Duma on 6 March, as reported by privately-owned Russian news agency Interfax on […]
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MOSCOW. March 7 (Interfax) – Russian President’s Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov has urged people not to look for “the hand of Moscow” in protest actions in eastern Ukraine and Crimea. “What is happening in the east (of Ukraine) and Crimea has nothing to do with the Russian Federation. These are not manipulated processes, let alone those that are the consequences […]
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(Moscow News – moscownews.com – David Burghardt – March 7, 2014) A woman’s place is in the kitchen, according to a recent poll by the All-Russian Center for Public Opinion Research (VTsIOM) published on Friday. According to the latest survey, 72 percent of Russians believe a woman should choose the home and family over her career. “When there’s a choice […]
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[check back for updates, including more links; links also posted to facebook and twitter] Johnson’s Russia List :: 2014-#48 :: 6 March 2014 E-Mail: davidjohnson@starpower.net A project of the Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies (IERES) at The George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs: www.ieres.org JRL homepage: russialist.org JRL on Facebook: facebook.com/russialist JRL on Twitter: twitter.com/JohnsonRussiaLi Support […]
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(US Department of State – state.gov – Fact Sheet – Office of the Spokesperson – Washington, DC – March 5, 2014) As Russia spins a false narrative to justify its illegal actions in Ukraine, the world has not seen such startling Russian fiction since Dostoyevsky wrote, “The formula ‘two plus two equals five’ is not without its attractions.” Below are […]
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(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Kateryna Choursina, Eduard Gismatullin and James M. Gomez – March 6, 2014) Near a display of confiscated weapons from elite police who fired on Ukrainian protesters during Kiev’s uprising, Mykola stands guard duty in a shack beside a barricade of tires, wire and park benches. The hated riot police gone, activists in camouflage mingle with tourists […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Alexander Panin – March 6, 2014) As world leaders increase or trash their political clout depending on their audience and the statements they make about the situation in the Ukraine, some analysts were revising Russian GDP growth estimates to as low as 1.1 percent for the year. Wednesday was a calmer day on the stock […]
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(RFE/RL – rferl.org – Robert Coalson – March 5, 2014) Getting the real story of what is going on in Ukraine is hard enough. And the Russian media seems intent on making it even harder. With Russian forces controlling Crimea and with Moscow contemplating further military action in Ukraine, Russian media and leading political figures have been shrill in their […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – March 6, 2014) Russian human rights ombudsman Vladimir Lukin called crackdowns on unsanctioned opposition protests illegal. According to Russia’s Supreme Court decisions, unauthorized protests were not necessarily illegal, Lukin said, Interfax reported. He added that often the protests pose no disturbance to citizens and that violations should only be pursued when the actions “create a […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Natalya Krainova – March 6, 2014) The Federation Council is drawing up a bill that would allow the government to confiscate the property of U.S. and European companies in the event of Western sanctions, though political analysts dismiss both actions as intimidating rhetoric unlikely turn into action. Further decreasing the possibility of asset confiscation is […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – March 6, 2014) Pussy Riot members Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Maria Alyokhina have been attacked by five young men at a McDonald’s in Nizhny Novgorod on Thursday. The attackers threw metal objects at the women as they were eating, leaving Alyokhina with “a cut to her forehead,” their lawyer said, Interfax reported. Furthermore, Tolokonnikova and Alyokhina […]
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[check back for updates, including more links; links also posted to facebook and twitter] Johnson’s Russia List :: 2014-#47 :: 5 March 2014 E-Mail: davidjohnson@starpower.net A project of the Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies (IERES) at The George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs: www.ieres.org JRL homepage: russialist.org JRL on Facebook: facebook.com/russialist JRL on Twitter: twitter.com/JohnsonRussiaLi Support […]
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(Kremlin.ru – March 4, 2014) Novo-Ogaryovo, Moscow Region The President of Russia met with media representatives to answer a number of their questions, in particular with regard to the situation in Ukraine. PRESIDENT OF RUSSIA VLADIMIR PUTIN: Good afternoon, colleagues, How shall we do this? This is what I’d like to suggest: let’s have a conversation, rather than an interview. […]
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[check back for updates, including more links; links also posted to facebook and twitter] Johnson’s Russia List :: 2014-#46 :: 4 March 2014 E-Mail: davidjohnson@starpower.net A project of the Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies (IERES) at The George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs: www.ieres.org JRL homepage: russialist.org JRL on Facebook: facebook.com/russialist JRL on Twitter: twitter.com/JohnsonRussiaLi Support […]
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